Green Goal shot by Arsenal

Its purpose was to proclaim support for efforts by FIFA, the sport's governing body, to make the World Cup environmentally sound: the Green Goal initiative.

As part of the fun, guests could attempt to score a penalty and win themselves a football (plastic, of course). For every goal scored, Plastics Europe made a donation to offset carbon emissions. The goalkeepers included Jean-Marie Pfaff, who as a Belgian international kept goal in the world cups of 1982 and 1986, and has now become a television star, and Davino Verhulst, who is the current goalkeeper at Pfaff's old Belgian premier league side, KSK Beveren.

By a curious twist of fate, Beveren was in the headlines last week for the wrong reasons, after reports that it had been lent money by a joint venture involving the English club Arsenal.

There were suspicions that Arsenal was interested in using Beveren as a staging post for imported African players.

Beveren denies any wrongdoing and there is no suggestion of anything that broke the law, although the sport's rules might have been bent and FIFA has ordered an investigation. Did that take the shine off the Brussels event? Well, that's the beauty of plastic: none of the mud sticks.

There is something splendidly parochial about the state-aid investigation launched last week by the European Commission’s competition department into JC Decaux, a French advertising company. The question …